Yuzuru Hiraga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yuzuru Hiraga (平賀譲, Yuzuru Hiraga^?) (1878–1943) was a Japanese naval architect in the 'teens and 1920s, responsible for designing warships, many of which would later see action during World War 2, in particular, the heavy cruisers which were built to the terms imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty.

His cruiser designs were known for being extremely powerful, but also top-heavy and unstable, as he sought to fit as much weaponry and equipment as possible into a treaty-compliant hull. (Under 10,000 tons standard displacement) For a particularly extreme example, see the Mogami class cruiser, description of which the Director of Naval Construction of the Royal Navy allegedly replied "They must be building their ships out of cardboard or lying!"

After his service in the Imperial Japanese Navy, in which he rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral, he joined the faculty of Tokyo Imperial University as the dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and eventually became the University President in December, 1938. In the latter capacity, he was involved in the purge of many liberal academics from its faculty.